A-C Motor Express - Refigerated Transporter Magazine Article, Page 3 of 4

SINCE 1933 : 73 YEARS STRONG

339-C Bliss Street
West Springfield, MA 01089

Phone:
Toll Free:
Fax:

1-413-736-0314
1-800-332-4080
1-413-736-0316

"THROUGH SERVICE WE GROW"

A-C Motor Express Increases Fleet
To Boost LTL Service in Northeast

By Foss Farrar, Refrigerated Transporter Magazine
(December 1995 Issue; reproduced with permission)

Page 3 of 4

Article Picture #4

Preventive maintenance and most repairs of company tractors, trailers, and trucks are completed in a three-bay shop owned by A-C Motor Express. About two-thirds of the work the shop performs is for outside trucking and truck leasing companies.

Peddle Runs

Drivers start the day in areas surrounding Boston and converge on the city for their final pick-up stops. For example, runs may start in Canton and Middleboro south of Boston, and in Lowell and Gloucester north of the city. Deliveries typically are made to restaurants, grocery distribution centers and meat wholesalers.

A-C Motor Express also dispatches three straight trucks and two tractor-trailer rigs per day to Connecticut, a straight truck to the Berkshire mountains region of northwestern Massachusetts, and one to five tractor-trailer rigs to Albany, New York, depending on order volume.

Besides produce, another large volume item for A-C Motor Express is meat, representing another 30% of the freight the company handles. Fresh and frozen meat is distributed by the LTL carrier for several companies based in the Midwest and South. Outside carriers transport about six trailerloads per week to the A-C Motor Express terminal.

"The other trucking companies bring the product to us because they can't schedule delivery in the Northeast conveniently," Nekitopoulos says. "As an LTL carrier, we handle the out-of-the-way, difficult orders. On a holiday weekend, we might be bombarded with freight brought to us by other carriers."

Cross-Dock Operation

A-C Motor Express operates from a 5,000 square foot, 22 door terminal in West Springfield. When company tractor-trailer rigs and trucks return from their runs, freight is unloaded in the center of the dock and reloaded in refrigerated trucks or trailers to maintain temperarure control overnight. Inbound freight transported to the terminal by outside carriers is handled in the same manner. As more freight arrives, product is combined for next day delivery.

"Unloading and loading of trucks and trailers is a continuous process," Nekitopoulos says.

Drivers have a key role in the operation. A-C Motor Express has no dock workers; the drivers load and unload their own trucks and trailers. The company has better control over freight when drivers are responsible for counting and verifying product quantities, Boucher says.

Many of the 40 A-C Motor Express drivers have long experience with the company; 22 drivers have been employed by the carrier for 10 years or more. Drivers typically work 12 hour days, communicate often with dispatchers to ensure on-time delivery, and represent the company in a positive manner to customers, says Boucher, who joined A-C Motor Express in 1971.

Joe Boucher, Dan's brother, has been with the carrier for over 40 years. Starting out as a driver when he was 18, he was a dispatcher for many years before he returned to driving eight years ago. He and his brother have been instrumental in the company's growth.

"Most trucks and tractors have cellular phones so drivers can phone the terminal conveniently," Dan Boucher says. "We encourage drivers to talk to us and act as mediators between us and customers. They see the customers every day, and they are some of our best salesmen."

Drivers are expected to call the company terminal by 9AM each day, Boucher adds. In addition, they are required to call the terminal when they arrive at their first stops.

Though drivers usually run the same geographic areas each week, they are trained for all of the areas the company covers. "Every one of our trucks goes everywhere," Boucher says. "Our runs have a combination of regular and irregular stops. We expect our drivers to be flexible."

About 80% of the stops drivers make are prearranged by appointment, Boucher says, and the company strives for a perfect on time delivery rate. On a wall in the A-C Motor Express distribution center are four plaques for "100% on-time services." The plaques were awarded to the LTL carrier by a photographic film and paper supplier whose product is transported by A-C Motor Express at temperatures between 55 and 80 degrees Fahrenheit.

Article Picture #5

A driver unloads freight in the 5,000 square foot company terminal. Unloading and loading of trucks and trailers is a continuous process in the 22 door terminal.